Republican truth tellers:
Donald Trump told a compelling story of a “beautiful child”
who received a vaccination, went home, a week later had a high fever and came
down with the autism.
In a New Hampshire town meeting a Trump supporter wanted Muslims
removed from America, especially that Muslim usurper in the White House who is
“not even an American.” And Trump says in reply, “We’re going to be looking at
a lot of things.”
And Monday Trump presented his military supporters, The
Veterans for a strong America. Hundreds of thousands of veterans were members,
Trump said.
Carly Fiorina presented an angry emotional statement during
the debate. In it she “dared” Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama to watch the
video with a living fetus on a slab, tiny heart beating, arms and legs
flailing. In the meantime, apparently, you hear someone saying “keep it alive
so we can harvest its brain.”
The problem of all these compelling stories is that they are
lies. I suspect that the Republican candidates know that they are lies.
If there is a “beautiful child” at all, there is no
connection between her vaccination and autism. This is not controversial. It is
settled science. Children are not given doses in a needle that resembles a
needle/syringe used to vaccinate horses.
The President is a Christian – who had
to denounce his Christian Pastor in the 2008 campaign – and was born in
America. That is settled. Done. And Trump knows it – but he also knows that he
can dog whistle part of the base into action if he lets that stand. He may, in
fact, believe that there are secret Muslim terror training camps, which must be
what Jade Helm was actually about since it clearly wasn’t about removing state
governments and instigating martial law. It’s hard to know what nonsense Trump
believes since he believes that the Mexican government has a plan to send
criminals across the border.
The hundreds of thousands of veterans? According to
reporting on the Rachel Maddow show it was probably just one guy.
And the video? It’s not of anything that is connected to
Planned Parenthood. You don’t even have to watch the video to have your doubts
about the veracity of Fiorina’s description. For the “undercover” video to be real
means that the videographer was admitted to the procedure room during an abortion.
That would require consent from the patient undergoing an abortion. It would
also mean that the Planned Parenthood representative and the “undercover
journalist” were there and discussing at the same time that this procedure is
going on. It’s absurd and absurd on the face of it. If Fiorina thinks she has
to recognize how absurd this description of a video that doesn't exist is.
Yet, when asked people complain that Hillary is
untrustworthy, a liar, inauthentic. Why?
1 comment:
The problem is that the Republican candidates are telling lies that a majority of their base believes. (54 % of Republicans believe that Obama is a Muslim. I'm sure most Republicans believe the lies about Planned Parenthood). I have no idea why Republicans love Trump. If it's because he speaks his mind, my husband once had a crude, goofy uncle who could have been President. I assume it's because he appeals to their baser instincts: xenophobia, misogyny, a sense of superiority to the "other." You will also notice that Trump uses short, easy words and short phrases to appeal to those who have trouble listening to a more sophisticated and nuanced explanation of the issues. Bumper sticker politics for the masses who don't read.
On Clinton, conservatives have hated her from her first public appearance. Nothing will change their minds on her.
I often think of the story about Adlai Stevenson after he gave a particularly good speech. "Mr. Stevenson," said a supporter," every thinking American will vote for you." Stevenson replied, "It's not enough. I need a majority."
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